Around the last quarter of the article, under the subtitle The Exception, the paper reported that 5.3 percent of the employees and 14.7 percent of all applicants identified themselves as minorities. (Only 3.7 percent of county applicants said they were members of a minority.)

County and school district officials say the university can offer better compensation, which tends to attract more candidates. But the paper reported that the university might just be aggressively pursuing minority candidates — something other public employers aren’t doing.

Lori Mikl, the Affirmative Action Officer for Winona State, said the university spent about $34,000 on employment advertising last school year, and about half was focused on developing a more diverse applicant pool.

“It contributes to the overall atmosphere of the campus,” she said. “Having a diverse campus adds to the overall education environment.”

About the blogger

Alex Friedrich reports on higher education issues for MPR News. Among the stories he has covered: the fall of the Berlin Wall, aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, 2003 Moscow suicide bombing and 2004 presidential elections in the Republic of Georgia. He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Georgia and a master’s in European political economy from the London School of Economics.